多虧了種子保存者，玻璃寶石玉米才得以存在

多虧了種子保存者，玻璃寶石玉米才得以存在

Corn on the cob is one of life's biggest treats, but there's rarely a surprise when you peel the husk. That's not the case with Glass Gem corn. Peeling the husk from this variety of corn is like unwrapping artwork each time.

玉米棒是生活中最大的美食之一，但當(dāng)你剝?nèi)ビ衩灼さ臅r(shí)候，你很少會(huì)感到驚訝。但玻璃寶石玉米卻不是這樣。剝?nèi)ミ@種玉米的外殼，每次都像是打開(kāi)一件藝術(shù)品。

Glass Gem corn Is an old variety of corn with kernels that come in an absolutely stunning array of colors. (Photo: timlewisnm [CC BY-SA 2.0]/Flickr)

What is Glass Gem corn? It's an old variety of corn with kernels that come in an absolutely stunning array of colors. It's also a reminder that there are varieties of fruits and vegetables that we're in danger of losing. That would be a real shame if we did.

什么是玻璃寶石玉米?這是一種古老的玉米品種，它的玉米粒顏色非常漂亮。這也提醒我們，有很多種類的水果和蔬菜我們可能會(huì)失去。如果我們這樣做，那將是一個(gè)真正的遺憾。

This multi-colored corn was brought back into our collective consciousness a few years ago when a photo of it went viral. Business Insider has the story of this corn (along with some beautiful photos) that an Oklahoma farmer named Carl Barnes has been growing for many years. He's half-Cherokee, and he wanted to reconnect with his heritage, so he exchanged Native American corn seed with people from all over the country and started growing corn with seeds the colors of the rainbow.

這種五顏六色的玉米在幾年前被帶回我們的集體意識(shí)中，當(dāng)時(shí)它的一張照片在網(wǎng)上瘋傳 ?！渡虡I(yè)內(nèi)幕》報(bào)道了這種名叫卡爾·巴恩斯的俄克拉荷馬州農(nóng)民種植玉米多年的故事(還有一些漂亮的照片)。他是半個(gè)切羅基人，他想要和自己的傳統(tǒng)重新建立聯(lián)系，所以他和來(lái)自全國(guó)各地的人交換了美洲原住民的玉米種子，開(kāi)始種植帶有彩虹顏色種子的玉米。

His efforts were successful but went under the radar until 1994 when another farmer named Greg Schoen obtained some of this rainbow corn seed from Barnes and grew it himself. His photo of a particularly beautiful ear of corn went viral in 2012, and now demand for the seeds is high.

他的努力取得了成功，但直到1994年，另一位名叫格雷格·舍恩的農(nóng)民從巴恩斯那里獲得了這種彩虹玉米種子，并自己種植了它，他的努力才被人發(fā)現(xiàn)。2012年，他拍攝的一張玉米穗特別漂亮的照片在網(wǎng)上瘋傳，現(xiàn)在對(duì)玉米種子的需求很高。

So now anyone can grow this beautiful variety, save the seeds, and pass them on — helping to make sure these seeds don't get forgotten again. By saving the seeds from specific-colored kernels, people have been able to play with the colors, creating new color combinations in the Glass Gem corn.

所以現(xiàn)在任何人都可以種植這種美麗的品種，保存種子，并把它們傳遞下去——幫助確保這些種子不會(huì)再次被遺忘。通過(guò)從特定顏色的玉米粒中保存種子，人們可以改變顏色，在玻璃寶石玉米中創(chuàng)造新的顏色組合。

This corn isn't the type you'd slather with butter, sprinkle with salt, and chomp into on a summer evening. It's tougher than that, so it's used for popcorn and for grinding into cornmeal.

這種玉米不是那種你會(huì)在夏天的晚上涂上厚厚的黃油，撒上鹽，然后大嚼特嚼的玉米。它比那更硬，所以它被用來(lái)做爆米花和磨成玉米粉。

The importance of saving seeds

保存種子的重要性

Glass Gem corn is an example of the fruits and vegetables that we're in danger of losing. (Photo: ThomasLENNE/Shutterstock)

The story of how Glass Gem corn was rediscovered is important because it highlights the need to save seeds and swap seeds with others to keep produce varieties alive.

玻璃寶石玉米重新被發(fā)現(xiàn)的故事很重要，因?yàn)樗鼜?qiáng)調(diào)了保存種子和與他人交換種子以保持品種存活的必要性。

According to Food Tank founder Danielle Nierenberg, there are about 100,000 global plant varieties (edible and non-edible) that are endangered. Saving seeds and making sure that a large variety of plants continue to thrive is important for agricultural biodiversity, but its importance goes further.

據(jù)食品庫(kù)創(chuàng)始人丹妮爾·尼倫伯格稱，全球約有10萬(wàn)種植物品種(可食用和不可食用)瀕臨滅絕。保存種子和確保多種植物繼續(xù)生長(zhǎng)對(duì)農(nóng)業(yè)生物多樣性很重要，但它的重要性還不止于此。

Food Tank has a list of 15 seed-saving initiatives, including several that you can purchase seeds from. You can also go to a local seed swap or swap with others online. Once you get your seeds, the idea is to grow the plants, save the seeds, keep some for yourself and swap or give to others to perpetuate the diversity of seeds.

食品庫(kù)列出了15個(gè)節(jié)種計(jì)劃，包括幾個(gè)你可以購(gòu)買種子的計(jì)劃。你也可以去當(dāng)?shù)氐姆N子交換或與其他人在線交換。一旦你得到你的種子，想法是種植植物，保存種子，保留一些給你自己和交換或給別人以保持種子的多樣性。